


The CEO from Hell

by Moongeist94



Series: AoEx AU World Stories #1 [1]
Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternative Perspective, Badass, Demon Okumura Rin, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, F/M, Forbidden Love, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Origin Story, Original Character(s), Out of Character, Sharing a Bed, Slow To Update, They gon' fuck, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2020-10-25 08:56:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20721569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moongeist94/pseuds/Moongeist94
Summary: When you have enough of your current job, it is only advised to change before it burns you out. That is what our main female character, Tio is doing. The new job opportunity comes with great benefits, and attractive salary on Hong Kong island - where her adventure begins. However the company is hiding something, that never left the building, and a CEO that came straight from Hell.Is the new place will make up for all the secrets that lies behind closed doors?  Will Tio be able to have a chance and be able to stay firmly on her feet?





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short disclaimer:
> 
> The story has been role-played before, it is a very long one. Actually one of the best ones that I've played in my years of experience, so I thought I should share it with you all! Hope you like it, and if you notice anything that shouldn't be there or needs more explaining, please do let me know! Also, English is my second language, so please be patient with me.
> 
> Happy reading~

The warm spring morning Sun rises up on the horizon, painting the sky purple, then red, and finally blue. It is a beautiful time of the day, bringing life into the sleeping city. Streets filled with the bitter smell of coffee along with the sweet scent of freshly baked butter croissants and cinnamon rolls. Train tracks, horn noises filling up the busy road as everyone tries to get to work, with more or less success and with a neverending lateness record. Paperboys shout to attract attention, mentioning all the hot news from the parliament. On average, thousands of people pass through each and every central metro stations, filling up carriages in lightning speed. 

One central office is loud because of the chattery and telephone rings, employees run back and forth, playing with their pens with their hand, sipping on the third cup of espresso, all while staying focused and liaising with potential clients. The company isn’t very big, but it has a good number of workers who do their best every single day – maybe every Monday and Tuesday, from Wednesday, the company morale slips back into negative.

Most of the employees are there for one sole purpose – getting paid. Majority of them -mainly men- just hangs around, trying to pick up the prettier half of the ladies, basically do fuckall. The team lacks diversity, not many foreigners are able to keep their patience with these lousy individuals – you can find all kind of personalities here, from the poser dumb bitch to the bedsheet flipper. To be honest, barely any work gets done throughout the day, however, there is one particularly special individual, who has the capability of ignoring these nitwits.

She is pretty, kinda short, has the most beautiful hair among the ladies, stubborn and has the will power to achieve anything she wants. Her temper isn’t the best and gets out of hand sometimes, but her main focus is to get her job done and up to standard. Not everybody wants to follow her example unfortunately, and some points it out to her.  
„Hey, good morning sunshine! Did you get out of the wrong side of the bed?”- one man asked.  
„Morning. Every single day when I have to come in and see your stupid faces, it’s the wrong side of the bed kind of day” – she said firmly while slamming her bag down on the desk where her binders and folders rest in an organised manner.  
„C’mon, don’t be so grumpy on this beautiful Wednesday morning” – he laughed while taking a big gulp of his coffee that he doesn’t even like. „Ease up a little bit. Hear me out, I will invite you to my after-work small get together with these folks. What do you say?” – his rude and attacking attitude stank, could be noticed from afar.  
„Thanks but no thanks. I don’t really fit into your--- Instagrammable lifestyle” – her onslaught reply cut through the air.  
„A’right” – he shrugged „If you change your mind, just let me know. You know my number”  
„Unfortunately...” – heavy sigh, and she finally sat down on her chair to begin working. She is already behind with her work by a whole 8 minutes. 

She isn’t an extroverted person at all, she spends even her break at the laptop to get her job done as soon as possible, so she doesn’t have to breathe the same toxic air as her fellow colleagues any longer than need. Time passes by slowly when you are in a hateful, discriminating environment, all you hear is talking, laughing and barely any keyboard clicking. She likes to listen to classical music while she is working, helps her brain to concentrate and close the outside world, which makes her less aware of her environment, and jumps when somebody touches her out of the blue. To her colleagues’ amusement, they continually scare the living soul out of that absorbed girl, which in return, ends up terrible.

At exactly 5 pm the loners and introverted stand up from their desk and head straight to the nearest hectic metro station to head home. It is always a very precise manoeuvre, drifting through the hundreds of office workers who cannot be more agitated than they already are, muttering under their breaths of how badly managed and cramped each and every metro line are. The public goes through the same appalling scenario above the ground; red double-decker buses one after another, black cabs following close behind, and the persistent trespassing pedestrians make it all bleak.

_I cannot do this job anymore, it is draining all of my energy, and I am only 24_ – the worrying train of thoughts passed through her mind as she shared her personal space with a barista who listens to music on the loudest volume, something from the pop chart. People stand tighter than sardines in a can, if one moves, everybody will end up on the floor in a domino effect. After an agonising 1 hour and 15 minutes she gets home, kicks her shoes off and heads straight to her room to free herself from clothes and jump straight in the shower. The family eagerly waits for her to be ready for dinner, so they can all revel in. Plates, cutlery, glasses and fine red wine are all on the table, by the time the roasted chicken just finishes, she arrives at the dining table, ready to replenish her energy.

”Honey, how was your day today?”- mother asked as she plated the mashed potato along with the freshly boiled green peas.  
”It was alright, same shit every day, as you know it...” – first to take her share of the golden-brown chicken, and pours out the wine.  
”Tio, maybe it’s time for you to change jobs. You always come home exhausted and bothered. Are your colleagues that grim?” – her brother never skips an opportunity to intervene, and starts arguing.  
”Just try to imagine yourself in my shoes for a minute, will you? I am introverted, I hate those mortals. I need to leave as soon as I can because my patience is running thin...” – without hesitation she chews on the moist chicken, taking in all the flavours, and her mother’s love for cooking. Time goes fast when you have fun, particularly when you can recharge your inner batteries with quality family dinners. Tio seems happier as well when she can leave the work-related problems behind and able to focus on what is more important, and can relax in her own little world. 

Days and weeks pass by, Tio’s performance marginally dropped due to researching other available jobs that suit her better and is in her profession – she analyses the potential risks and advantages of new telecommunication technologies and their effects on the population, whether they harm the population or is it cost-effective enough to implement. At the moment the company is in the development stage of faster connection speeds that allow other, third-party companies to expand their territories and enable a larger competition. Yet, the company isn’t on a massive scale, it only has a slim percentage of owning certain territories, the bigger companies eat the small ones alive, but some survive.

One particular establishment that specialises in telecommunication on a much larger scale, has huge offices in Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, the Middle East and India. It covers close to 70% of the world’s available network systems, and keen to expand to be the only umbrella communication company in the world. Yoigo is looking for new risk assessment analysts to join their Hong Kong-based team, and work alongside the Chief Officer. Benefits lengthen one’s expectations – temporary accommodation is available, discounts at selected brands along with a beautiful yearly salary. Upon doing a little background research of the company, many complained, that it is nearly impossible to fill this role as the CO is awfully demanding with deadlines that are unreasonably tight. Since the company received the new chief officer, things going maybe too well, but the workers’ morale at an all-time low, however, the loyalty rate still remains high.

Shorty after Tio sends through her application along with a nicely done CV and appealing cover letter, she receives a response, where the representatives that will come to the UK would like to invite her for an interview. The e-mail states a bit more information about the job itself, benefits and required documents as well as certification of the desired qualifications. The day cannot come soon enough, Tio is filled with excitement – she gets to the given address promptly, dressed as she would dress to her current job, prepared with documents, certifications and even written down some questions that she may ask if she gets the chance. Tension building up among the other participants – there are only four of them, that shows how massive the pre-interview selection process, no corporation would want to take an average worker that lacks passion and discipline. 

The small hall was silent, even a nail drop can be heard – all four applicants are nervous, agitated, stressed and impatient. Minutes seem like hours before anyone is getting called. Each and every applicant takes close to an hour to complete their interview, leaving with the hope of scoring the job. Tio is the third in line, takes a deep breath before stepping into the white office – there she meets with two beautiful and collected Asian ladies, both presenting the kind of discipline that the company is looking for. The anxious girl answers every coming question with honesty, certainty keeping the corporation’s need in mind. She doesn’t get any kind of positive or negative response, keeping the atmosphere neutral without any blind hopes or sudden defeat.

A day goes by, two, three, four, it’s almost Friday, still no response, the agonising 7 workdays wait cannot come any leisurely. Tio cuts down on her performance, as she is impatiently wanting to leave this shithole where is she at the moment, fortunately, nobody among her colleagues knows her plan of leaving or even attempting of looking for something else. Only a few minutes after her lunch break her phone rings violently, she picks up in a hurrying manner.  
”Tio Zack, yes?”  
”A very good afternoon to you as well Miss Zack” – it was easier to tell which of the ladies talks by the cold and rigid tone.  
”... I would like to apologize for my sudden answer, I wouldn’t want to miss the call at all” – her heart races on 200 beats per minute, her fingers are tingling, her throaty dries up as she listens.  
”I understand, and indeed would be a shame if you would miss this call, as I am happy to confirm, your application and the face-to-face interview went well. You presented on a very high standard, discipline and confidence, therefore I would like to invite you to out Hong Kong-based team at Yoigo. Your role will be risk assessing the further implementation of the communication network, promoting it to future clients, and present your findings to the Head Office. I am sending you an e-mail as I speak with all the documents that you are required to fill out, as well as the complimentary flight tickets. Your flight leaves in three days time, please pack plenty as you will not be returning anytime soon” – Tio could only process half of what she heard as she was keeping her excitement under control and not letting anybody hear that.  
”Thank you so much, and yes I have received the e-mail just now”  
”Excellent. Please complete them at home, as I previously spoke with your manager, you are resigned as of now. Welcome to Yoigo Telecommunications!”


	2. Newbie

Three long days later, Tio and her family head straight to the airport to drop the cargo off to a new place where hopefully she will be happier. Her mother, Joanna can’t hold her tears back, not wanting to let her young and fragile daughter off somewhere far, full of strangers and people who she doesn’t know. There is a bit of a queue at the designated check-in desk, mostly well-dressed individuals as Hong Kong isn’t one of the heavy leisure kind of place, more like an attraction to future businesses. Hundreds if not thousands of businesses have outlets in the small country because taxes are cheaper and everybody speaks fluent English and Mandarin. Shortly, it is Tio’s turn to check her massive luggage in to be loaded in the cargo. Because she received the complimentary First-Class ticket, it allows her to take a lot with herself; She can even pay a visit at a dedicated lounge at the terminal.

“We will miss you a lot, my dear! Please, take care of yourself, all right?” – Joanna gave her daughter a big and tight hug before she let her on her way, even shed tears.  
“Okay, Mum. Don’t be so upset, I will come back home when I can, I promised” – the young girl still don’t realise what a big step she makes in her life, her emotions don’t reach where they should in her body just yet, however, her fingers and legs are tingling a bit.  
“As soon as you can call us, will you? I need to know you are safe!” – holding Tio by her shoulders, gazing into her shining eyes, the mother sheds more tears, runs her hand through the daughter’s silky-smooth hair, strokes her puffy cheeks.  
“Definitely! Bye Mom, Dad, Ryan! Take care of each other, love you all” – with that second her new chapter in her life begins. Going through security is an ease with a premium ticket, not getting stuck with tens of other economy passengers. As she strolls through the beautiful terminal, she founds the lounge where she gets the exclusive chance of being away from the crowd and indulges in a well-deserved spa treatment before the 11 and a half hours flight begins. After the relaxing spa and trying a few cocktails from the bar along with some snacks, Tio sits comfortably on one of the bright red couches while she waits for her plane to call for boarding – the lounge is directly next to a huge window where different airlines’ planes can be seen in motion and parked waiting for their next duty.

Shortly after announcing the gate, the excited girl makes her way to board the plane that will carry her all across Europe, the Middle East, and China. The new plane gives an intimate environment with a mixture of purple and red mood lighting, enabling a much more personal experience–Tio’s seat is next to the window and close enough for close disembarkation. The plane and seat are equipped with the latest aviation and comfort technology, with excellent legroom, double windows and a huge touchscreen TV. The 11 hours flight might seem a lot and feel a lot; however no passenger, including her, left on their own; plenty of food and drinks being served, alcoholic beverages and cocktails where some are exclusive to the destination. Adjusted mood lighting makes sleeping a breeze; they can convert the seat into a comfortable flatbed. Because of excitement and being uptight, Tio doesn’t sleep much, she keeps her mind off from all the mixed emotions by listening to music and filling up her compulsory paper works and the landing card, so she can enter the country. They have provided all the information for her; She reviews the online feedback for the company and familiarises herself with the duties she will have to undertake.

There is nothing better than arriving at your destination less fatigued, it is all thanks for the improved air circulation technology that been implemented on this aircraft. Leaving the airport is just as easy as checking in with designated premium exit routes. A representative is already waiting for her; Tio finds her name on an iPad which her chauffeur is holding along with an exquisite Vietnamese lady.  
”Good...” – Tio holds her breath for a second to check the exact time ”afternoon, my name is Tio Zack” – untangles her hand from her bag for a handshake.  
”A very good afternoon for you too, Miss Zack. It is our pleasure to meet with you. I hope you rested” – a shy smile shows on the lady’s doll-like white face.  
”I got some snooze, yes, but I was too nervous” – laughs tensely as she tries to fish out her completed documents.  
”Glad to hear that. May we get on our way?” – she turns just slightly, showing to go, as time is money.  
”Absolutely!” – finally, Tio hands the papers over.  
The representative and the chauffeur walks side-by-side towards the car park; they stop at a very luxurious, freshly polished Midnight Black Ford Mondeo. It is so shiny you can see your reflection, every tire look brand new. They load Tio’s two heavy pieces of luggage into the booth and they begin their way to the recruit’s temporary accommodation close to the company building. The Vietnamese lady checks all the documents that Tio filled out; Her writing is pleasing to read, clean, and organised.

” I do see, Miss Zack, your handwriting...”  
” I tried to write nicely, I do apologise if it’s hard to read” - the unusual comment flabbergasted Tio.  
”It shows that you are a very organised person; very collected and ambitious”- the lady turns back for a second to catch the confused British girl, let’s out an honest smile, then turns back.  
”Oh... Well... Um... I am organised, not so sure about the other two...” – she disheartened immediately, Tio always had problems with seeing the better half of herself.  
”Time will tell, Miss Zack... We are at your apartment shortly, in there you will find an iPhone and a MacBook. Both are essential for your work; as we constantly monitor it, we only permit you to use work-related tasks. The CO kindly asks you to not use your devices to finish your duties as everything we do is highly confidential. You can use your phone for personal use, it is synced into the server once every month to scan for potential threats and any concerns about your workload, colleagues or your stay. As you are from the UK, we loaded your phone with allowance to call your family” – they arrived at the accommodation, all three exits the car and make their way to the apartment on the 18th floor.

” I know it might sound a lot, and being watched continuously, but it is for our and your safety. If any confidential information leaks out from you...” – she takes a deep breath.” If you have questions, there is an online wellbeing chat available for you, both on your MacBook and your iPhone. Tomorrow at 7 am the driver will come and pick you up, drives you to the building, then another representative, Huifen will show you around, give you the welcome pack, then after lunch she will give you a task, it will be related to your role, it is just to see what you came with. With that, I shall take my leave, please do get some rest, Miss Zack. Welcome to Yoigo Telecommunications!” – Tio shakes her hand with both the representative and the driver, then she unpacks. 

Before Tio goes to bed to sleep, she takes a nice, hot, and bubbly bath to relax, and finally register, that her life is about to turn upside down. The family had been notified of her arrival; they look forward to Tio’s first day at her new job. Mixed emotion spiral through her body, excited but scared, emotional however proud. Proud, because she can ultimately live alone, nobody to watch her steps, be in her personal space relentlessly. The bath calms down her busy mind, making her sleepy, but just enough so she can get out of the bath and make her way to the luxurious and soft bed. Both the pillows and blanket are made out with the finest material, softer and fluffier than flannel. 

7 am comes rapidly, Tio jolts out of bed at 6.30 am, dressed up, puts make-up on, brushes her hair to make it into a bun with loose front sections, throws her MacBook and phone into her huge work bag, then makes her way down to the parking bay. 7 am sharp, not even a second later, the Mondeo arrives, all set to take the newbie to work. They synchronise all watches to the main server in the Hong Kong building, all showing the same time, down to milliseconds. At half-past 7 Tio arrives at the massively tall Yoigo hut, it has at least 23 floors, if not less. At the meeting hall, Huifen waits to get a permanent ID for the newcomer, get her registered to the system.

” Good morning, Miss Zack, how are you today?”- Huifen shakes Tio’s hand softly.  
”Good morning, I am well, thank you for asking. How about you?” – Tio’s cheeks are still red a little because of how badly she as rushing.  
”I am fine, thank you. Shall we get you registered?”  
”Please” – they walk to the massive desk where 6 receptionists work. Tio hands her passport over, they already received the contract from Huifen. They take her fingerprint and photo, and she is ready to enter.

The administration and analyst departments are on the 20th floor. In the whole construction, there are three companies, mainly Yoigo, the other two works under them, but for them, something like a third-party company, where they test new devices, implemented features and so on, everything technical. The lift takes Tio and Huifen straight to the office environment, there are no separating doors, and they allow only HR and analysts to come here anyway. The representative takes the newbie to her desk, which cannot be any closer to the CO’s own office.  
”Here is where you will work, as the contract said, you are working directly alongside the Chief Officer. Something like a secretary, but you still have to do your tasks. Is that clear?  
”Absolutely” – Tio answered in a shaky tone, having to work next to the big boss is apprehending.  
”Excellent, please do make yourself comfortable, I will bring in the welcome pack, run through everything you need to know, and after lunch, I give you a small task to test what you were doing back in London”  
”Sounds like a plan to me!”

Forms on forms, papers on papers, there are a million little things that Tio has to know and keep in mind all the time. Mainly confidential stuff, but some technical, more in-depth of what she will have to put up with. She always needs to be on standby, because Yoigo is in a phase where they should enforce expansion, go to different territories, and visit the islands. By the end of the year, the goal is as close to 90% coverage as possible. Therefore, the two mini-companies work tirelessly on testing the gear and servers to be ready.

Shortly after lunch, they give Tio the awaited task to better know her working style and speed.  
”Alright, it is 2 pm precisely, I need you to finish by... Hm... Half-past three. Good luck” - Huifen knows this isn’t a lot of time for the task she assigned. She leaves with a wicked smile on her face, leaving the newbie to begin her research. Time is ticking faster and faster as Tio gets in-depth with her research and presentation. She has to implement the new technology in Fiji island and have to make it safe for the residents but reliable. Not an easy job for a small island, not only because it is a remote island, but because the people don’t need faster connections. Tio doesn’t waste time, she quickly puts her findings into a presentation, and at 15.30 sharp Huifen steps in front of her desk.  
”It’s all done. Please, have a look” – Tio invites Huifen over to check her work. She approves with a silent nod.  
”Nice work, Tio, well done. You have a strong basis, which will and can be evolved” – Huifen straight up. ”What you presented to me was good, just good. You will need to work on your delivery and speed. It looks rushed. You need to structure your time better to keep up with the tight deadlines, or you will go down hard and ugly.”  
”Oh… Well, I gave up my life for this job, I will not disappoint. All I need is more time” – Huifen’s rigid feedback broke her inside, feeling overpowered.  
”Time is not on your side this time, Tio. I’ve seen a handful of British workers that took their job ever so lightly, and they ended up going back within a week. Well, we sent them back. Would you want that too?”  
”No, I don’t want that…” – Tio’s hollow tone just makes the situation worse.  
”I see. You are out in the big world now, you either stand on your feet or kiss the floor below. Your choice.” – Huifen takes her leave with a stern final look on the newbie.

Tio feels lost, disheartened, and on the floor. She thought her job was good enough, probably her standards were too low. Today is a lesson to grab life by the groin and toughen the fuck up. A wake-up call to switch gears, and go full power, no more slacking off, no more ’take it easy’ mindset, full throttle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Drop the cargo off" means to take somebody to the airport and send them on their way.


	3. Seeing him for the first time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tio finally meets the big boss. How will she behave around him? Will she be intimidated?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me a while to finish up this chapter, sorry about that.

Home, sweet luxurious home. There is hardly anything better than a hot, calming bath, light jazz music in the background and cream coloured relaxing walls. Tio tries her best to take Huifen’s opinion in a positive, empowering way, but it’s difficult when you just start a new job and immediately give a terrible impression.   
I’m sure, I’m not weak, it must be the poor training that I’ve been given… - mixed thoughts, emotion pass through her mind and her heart feeling uneasy about the coming day. What if the CO will bombard her with immediate tasks? Tio likes challenges, likes to be thrown into the deep water and find her way out, however, the water this time could be the ocean itself.

After a poor night’s sleep, Tio makes herself a cup of coffee to fully wake up and have a sense of the outside world. No sugar, no milk, just the pure bitterness. The caffeine slowly activates in her body while she brushes her hair, dresses up, puts make-up on and organises her work-bag. At exactly 7.20 am the driver arrives with the beautiful Mondeo to take her to work. The town slowly wakes up, bakeries are open since 5 am, the smell of freshly baked bread lingers in the streets. People from all around the world are here to fulfil their business dreams, to be successful and avoid any physical work to get to the top. Shortly the new girl arrives at the building, steps in the hall. Almost all eyes on her, everybody knows who she is and what her role will be. Other workers whisper ”Makes me wonder how long will she be able to stay” ”I hope she got a return ticket because she will need that” ”Looks like British, must be from the rich and lazy layer of the society, probably paid her way through here” and so on – nothing nice, nothing cheerful. Everybody knows how many other employees tried to fill the role, with absolutely no luck.

Tio arrives at her desk and to her surprise, a stock of paper waits for her already. Huifen stands behind the desk, looking agitated, her fingers twitch, impatiently taps with her feet.  
”What’s the time?” – she asks with a hurrying manner.  
”Hm… 8.01. I am not too late” – Tio greets Huifen with a cheerful smile.  
”You need to get here by 8 am **SHARP**! Not 8.01, not even a second later. Throw your British attitude now, you are in my land, adapt or leave!” – both hear bold steps from the lift, the air suddenly freezes, along with the other workers. No unnecessary noise, no chatter, just the sound of paper flipping, keyboard tapping and harsh pen taps on the desks.

A tall, rather handsome man in his early thirties/late twenties arrive, each of his steps brings fear into the office, his presence is rather unwelcome. An incredible amount of tension builds up as he walks towards his office room, passing Huifen, and the new girl, Tio.  
”Aaaah… G-good morning, Sir!” – Huifen bows down to him in shame and humble, the whole of her body shunned.  
”Is she late?” – his tone tells everything that Tio needs to know about him; heartless, pressing and sinful with a touch of unrelenting attitude. His carefully selected words hit where it has to.  
”No, Sir, she arrived right on time, I was just making sure she was here” – Huifen still bowing, grabs Tio’s sleeve and brings her to bow as well. One rule applies to everybody; nobody’s allowed to look into his sky blue, fearsome eyes.  
”I see. I do advise for the young new colleague to do her mistakes now, as I will not be forgiving any later. Understand?”  
”Yes, yes Sir, absolutely!” – Huifen looks at Tio eagerly to say something.  
”Yes… Sir, I understand” – the ginger-haired girl is so confused, she does not know what to say.  
”Very well” – clears his throat. ”I need those papers to be digitalised by 1 pm, further tasks will follow via email”- and with that, he enters his office, closing the door right behind him.

Hours pass after hours, Tio feels her task will never end, there is too much paper to be digitalised and seemingly unnecessary data that are years old, probably not even needed anymore. Just minutes before 1 pm, Tio sends the scanned documents to another colleague who will organise them into the database. At exactly 1 pm, an email comes from the CO to analyse the potential risks implementing the new technology to Hawaii Island, because the next territory is planned to be that place. She has to finish by 3 pm, once again time is tight, she even compromises her mandatory lunch break to finish the presentation. During this time, one of the HR workers gives a collection of papers to Tio to pass it on for the boss.   
”Could you pass it to Mr Okumura? He requested some documents, and he asked me to give them to you” – the young man hurriedly gives the papers, clearly stating with his attitude that he has no intentions of going in his office at all.  
”Well, I am kinda in the middle of something, once I finish, I will bring the papers in” – she takes them, placing it next to her so she won’t forget it.  
”Okay, but it’s urgent, at least that is what he said…”  
Tio left a long sigh out of her mouth, her facial expression can say whatever was on her mind – she was rather annoyed, putting on more stress than what she already has, it will tighten her schedule.

Shortly after Tio finishes the slide she was working on, grabs the papers and hesitantly walks towards the CO’s door. This morning’s short but perplexed encounter set her opinion towards him, which isn’t nice. Reluctantly knocks on the tall, thick wooden made brown door, doing her best to be not heard. A short reply ”Come in” can be heard from inside, she grabs the cold silver handle, pushes it down and she enters. Keeping in mind what Huifen said later, do not look into his eyes, he doesn’t like to think that his employees can do whatever they want. 

The room is rather cold, but not to the point where an extra layer of clothing needed. The CO sits at his desk, typing something into his MacBook, while continuous chimes come from his phone. After a while, it’s super annoying, but he takes it very calmly. His fair skin colour looks like fine porcelain, hair so smooth, almost reflects all the artificial light back, a beautiful mixture of dark blue and black. His suit probably cost a fortune, seemingly made out with the finest material, rather matching shade of navy blue, decorated with a silk black tie. The huge windows with a clear blue sky background highlight his calm and collected presence. He looks up from his laptop to check who dared to disturb him – eyes so radiant blue expresses the highest level of authority, demands respect but gives only a cold feeling back. No human can compare to his exquisite character, better yet, a bit alienating. 

Those eyes meet hers, for a split second – Tio immediately bows her head down, avoiding eye contact at all cost. His cold eyes carefully check the pretty girl out from head to toe – her smooth luscious golden auburn hair is one of a kind. Her weak body shakes in anxiety and nervousness.  
“Um… G-good afternoon, Sir! O-one of the HR employees left this on my desk to give it to you” – her voice stopped here and there, barely understandable.  
“You are the new analyst who’s also my secretary?” – his cold voice made the air freeze for a split second.  
“Yes--- yes I am, Sir”  
“Mhm… next time, if anybody at HR approaches you and asks for you to do something, tell them they can bring it themselves”  
“But---” – Tio couldn’t even finish her sentence before their eyes met again, the rigid look in his eyes telepathically told her to keep quiet. She didn’t continue, just left the papers on his desk and jolted out of the office. The CO just looked at the door, he felt something unusual, nothing like this before – it was kind of an instinct.

Tio sits down at her desk with a heavy hump on her chair, lets out a deep sigh. The CO freaked her out nonetheless, his whole presence was overwhelming, left her feeling uneasy about herself. The clock keeps ticking until it hits 2.50 pm, she adjusts whatever she needs for the presentation, and sends it over by 2.55 pm sharp. Shortly after an email comes back stating that she will have to present it to the HQ and the manager of the technical and developmental department that takes place at 5 pm. To help nail the presentation, Tio prepares some cue cards, to elaborate her speech – trying not to lose her mind, during writing she listens to some music, it always keeps her focused. This experience is rather unfamiliar to her, she never had to present any of her works. A train of thought begins, questioning whether is this what she wants to do for the rest of her life – chained to a laptop, a chair and a desk doing monotone activities every Monday to Friday. This is exactly what she had to do back in London, but the environment in Hong Kong seems even more depressing, as everyone is super focused to their tasks, no time for banter or unnecessary chat. The correct term that would explain her colleagues are robots. Almost machines doing the same thing every single day, almost non-stop, expected to perform 110%.

5 pm came in lightning speed, Tio almost misses the appointment, she was too invested in making and refining her cue cards for the presentation. Stress does affect people in negative ways, and she isn’t exempt; messy hair, wrinkled blouse shirt and skirt slightly slipped up exposing her meaty tights. Only 10 people are present, 8 of them are males, including the CO – all others give Mr Okumura a rather questioning look, to which he refuses to respond, but a judging gaze studies the newcomer. Tension keeps building up, she is incapable of calming her mind, she feels those eyes poking all over her body.   
“Welcome everyone, my name is Tio Zack, I am the chairman’s new secretary and analyst. I have prepared this presentation about implementing the new technology to Hawaii’s islands…” – nobody seems to move an inch, notebooks are already open, pens in hands ready to take notes.  
“Right…” – she turns towards her laptop to connect to the projector and begin her brief but informative slideshow. Tio overcomes her anxiety and nervousness instantaneously, keeping her audience engaged by involving them, ask questions to which the representatives can answer to, explain complex paragraphs. Time passed rapidly, by the time everyone realised the presentation finished, it was already dark outside, the clock ticking at 6.30 pm. Since Yoigo is a multicultural company, not everybody shows gratification for Tio’s hard work, which lets her down briefly. The two lady representatives express their recognition to the young analyst. Once everyone left, it is only Mr Okumura and Tio present in the small meeting room.  
„… You know, I thought you wouldn’t be able to do it. I am positively disappointed in your performance tonight” – the CO takes a step towards Tio, while she is packing her belongings into a textile bag.  
„Thank you, Sir. I am pleased to hear that” – she refuses to look up to him, his cold gaze scares her.  
„Seems like you are more promising than anyone else who I had to deal with before. I hope this attitude keeps up--- you are too hardworking for a British” – he sits down right next to her on the table.  
„I beg you pardon, Sir?” – Tio gives a rather surprised, but flustered look. He laughs.  
„I will see you tomorrow. Sean, my driver is waiting for you at the downstairs car park” – Okumura takes one good look of her, from head to toe, and leaves. She just looks after him until the lift’s door closes.   
_„What the hell was this?”_

Several days later around 10 pm, which is way into bedtime for Tio, she receives a call on her work phone. Because it is a business phone, certain settings are unavailable, like putting it into silent mode – the loud generic ring wakes her up when she is in the comfiest position, sleeping like a little baby.  
„Mhm… yes? Who is this?” – she answers in a rather rude and tired attitude.  
„Pack a week worth of belongings, Sean will pick you up at 7 am sharp. Don’t be late, this is important” – the voice on the other side of the call is familiar, using a serious tone.  
„Uh wait what?”  
„7 am. Good night” – and the line cuts. Tio looks at her phone confused, tired and the screen brightness almost blinds her. Takes her a few minutes to realise what was the call about, as soon as she is awake enough, she sets the alarm well ahead to allow her time to pack and get ready. Tio manages to fall back to sleep fast.

Time flies when you are having a good time or having your best sleep, certainly a screaming phone at 5 am isn’t ideal, not something anyone would like to hear when they are having a nice dream. The bedroom is big and empty enough for the sound to reflect back on the walls, making the alarm that much louder. Tio was having one of her best sleep in a long time, her phone is on her nightstand, she grabbed it and smashes it on the ground while digging her face deeper into the soft pillows. Her phone keeps ringing, to which she finally gets up, out the bed and switches it off – the whole ordeal took a solid 5 minutes, only allowing her 1 hour and 55 minutes to prepare. She lets out a tired and annoyed sigh, lazily strolls to the bathroom, looks into the mirror.  
„Jesus, I need to do something about my face, it is atrocious” – not knowing what to expect, where will she be going, she prepares how she does every single day for work. Just in case, she packs her luggage with at least a week worth of belongings, her electronic materials go into her shoulder bag. By 6.57am she is downstairs in front of the apartment complex, 7am sharp, not a second later Sean arrives with a beautiful, midnight black Ford Mondeo, to take her to the airport.  
„Good Morning Miss Zack, has Mr Okumura tell you where are you heading?” – Sean looks at the mirror to get a look of Tio.  
„Good morning, Sean. I’ve only received a brief call from him at 10pm last night, I have no idea what he is planning” – a fresh cup of coffee was already waiting for her at the back seats.  
„I do apologise for that behalf of Mr Okumura. I am driving you to the airport, you will be flying out to Honolulu. You will be taking a private jet, Mr Okumura is waiting for you there already. I will be handling your luggage, you do not have to worry about anything, Miss Zack” – the word „Honolulu” scares the tired lady a bit, looks out of the window with a surprised look on her face, taking a minute to realise what is happening.  
„He sent a few e-mails to you already, please check them now, he wants you to be ready before we get there” – the commute to the airport is a breeze, not many people are on the highway. Checking in at the airport swiftly, and before Tio through security, everything is set up. A black Bombardier Global 5000 is being inspected by the Captain, while the Senior First Officer handles all paperwork inside. Okumura is dealing with a phone call close to the plane’s wing. As soon as Tio shows up in her office attire, he ends the call immediately.  
„Well, good morning Miss Zack. Rather formal attire for a flight, don’t you think?” – a nasty smirk shows up on his face, checking her out once again from head to toe.  
„Good morning Sir. As I had no idea what are you planning, your phone call was out of the blue, I assumed you needed me at work for extra or special tasks” – her response is rather dry, unwelcoming.  
„Oh, I apologise for that, it took a lot of time for the other guys to get my plane ready. After you…” – he insists he boards the plane first – just so he can check out that round bottom of hers.


End file.
